A colony for 50 years, federated , Unified to Ethiopia , in 1991's seceded after three decades of rebellion. Since 1998 Eritrea is at War, harboring proxy warriors especially the notorious Al- Shabab. Torture ,imprisonment , thousands fleeing, no religious freedom , the only university is closed, everybody is in the army, No Parliament, No election, No functioning institution, No free press & all living journalists are in prison. Eritrea is called the North Korea of Africa.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

In a bid to upend years of secrecy in the country dubbed “Africa’s North Korea”, a new Facebook page is publishing documents claiming to show how the Eritrean government abuses its citizens.

In just two months, SACTISM – Classified Documents of the Dwindling PFDJ has garnered more than 16,000 followers on the social media site by alleging to have new information about human rights violations committed at the hands of president Isaias Afewerki’s ruling party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice.

The name “sactism” comes from a colloquial Arabic word that roughly translates as “nothing”, and was coined by the anonymous whistleblower behind the page, who goes by the name Samuel.

Samuel claims he is an Eritrean underground blogger who once held a “key post” in the government but who later fled the country. He says he is now sorting through the documents he collected while working in the capital, and says he is determined to expose the regime.

As a result, thousands of young men and women are fleeing the country. In 2014,50,000 Eritreans sought asylum in Europe, with the UN estimating that around 5,000 nationals continue to escape each month.

With such a severe crackdown on civil liberties, and with little information able to enter to leave the country, Sactism has garnered a significant amount of attention from the Eritrean diaspora, despite the fact that the documents are impossible to verify.

Samuel also published accompanying notes he claims originate from 2001, which offer information about the security agents who arrested the journalists and their subsequent treatment in the notoriously secretive prison in Eiraeiro.

“The page is shaking the status quo,” says Daniel Mekonnen, a prominent Eritrean human rights lawyer living in Geneva. “Although it is difficult to ascertain the truthfulness of every information published on the page, some [readers] have already given their own independent opinion confirming the veracity – in whole or in part – of some of the information revealed,” he says.

The allegations have also been read out on popular Eritrean radio stations abroad, such as Radio Assenna, and have been extensively republished on diaspora websites.

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President of PEN Eritrea in exile, Ghirmai Negash, describes Sactism “as a new genre in Eritrean writing, the importance of which lies in its subversive power in the context of a nation under tyranny.”

But a few prominent figures have criticised the way in which Samuel is releasing the information. Awet Weldemichael, professor of African history at Queen’s University, says he is concerned about the ethics of the way in which the information is being released.

“I am not sure if it helps to family and friends of the disappeared to learn it through Facebook,” he says, adding that he also worries about the authenticity of the documents.

Facebook initially blocked the page, originally published exclusively in Tigrinya, after a petition emerged claiming that Sactism was “inciting hatred”. Samuel then began publishing certain posts in English, and provided a short blurb to clarify his intentions to readers.

Though he’s been approached by various outlets, he says he has chosen to stick to publishing on social media to allow him to “operate at an individual level” and to be “part of the democratisation of information sharing”, he has written.

“The regime was surviving mainly through the dread of information sharing,” he explained in a post in February. As a result, he has made it his mission to fight “misinformation and secrecy”, promising that “all the information shared on the page is most accurate.”

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Although the tiny East African nation of Eritrea has a population of just 6 million, Eritrea is one of the leading sources of refugees in Europe. There are many reasons for this, but chief among them is a lack of religious freedom.The Eritrean government outlawed worship outside of Islam and the Orthodox, Evangelical Lutheran and Roman Catholic Church in 2002, driving all other Christian churches underground as they faced varying degrees of restrictions and attacks. Since then, thousands of Christians have been arrested and incarcerated without benefitting from a legal process. Among them are a number of prominent church leaders arrested in 2004, who remain incarcerated today, almost 12 years later. World Watch Monitor spoke with the family of one of these prisoners.

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Haile Naigzhi, leader of Eritrea's Full Gospel Church, was arrested during the early hours of 23 May, 2004. He was taken from his home to Police Station #1 in Asmara, then moved to Wongel Mermera - a dungeon-like prison in Asmara, where he still resides, alongside at least five other prominent church leaders (see list below). They have little hope of release any time soon.
For years following Naigzhi's arrest, his wife and three children (names withheld to protect their identity) waited for his release. In 2013, his wife received credible information that the government wanted to arrest her and the children, so she decided to flee.

As World Watch Monitor reported last year, the journey out of Eritrea is fraught with danger. Movement in Eritrea is heavily controlled through an internal travel-pass system and checkpoints; anyone trying to cross the border can be shot on sight. If you make it past those first two hurdles, you reach the desert, exposed to the unforgiving elements and lawless human traffickers. Whatever destination you aim for after that could see you either crossing the Mediterranean on a rickety boat or dodging deportation from African countries with diplomatic and ideological ties to the Eritrean government.

World Watch Monitor cannot divulge the details of the Naigzhi family's journey, nor where they ended up, but today they are settled in a new country, where they have been granted asylum.

"We feel safer here," said Naigzhi's wife. "We are able to freely serve God. I am also happy because the children are in a good school."

But their 19-year-old daughter misses home. "Ever since we left our country, things have dramatically changed in a way we didn't know they would. I knew the moment we left that we would have an uphill battle until we are able one day to go back home again. And it was all true."

Their eldest daughter last saw her father when she was seven, whereas the youngest son (13) does not remember a time when they were all together.

The other boy, 17, last saw his father when he was five and confessed to also feeling homesick.

"I miss home, I miss my friends, and I miss our house," he said.

"It is difficult, but we hold on to Jesus," said Naigzhi's wife.

Her daughter added: "We learnt that having a ‘bed-of-roses' kind of life on earth is not actually God's number one plan for us, but that everything we face in this world shapes our spirits into the beautiful spirit the Lord wishes to see in us. I am happy in every way and most especially to be the daughter of the Most High God. I am also happy to be the daughter of a prisoner for Christ. He is the best dad ever! God will make things perfect one day, and I trust Him with all my heart. He is faithful to keep His word."

Eritrea is No. 3 on Open Doors' 2016 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian. No-one knows for certain how many Christians remain in the elaborate network of incarceration centres in Eritrea. Although there seems to have been a lull in arrests, pressure remains high on Christians and on society in general. Thousands are still intent on fleeing the country, the majority aiming for Europe. Hundreds have died trying.

Incarcerated church leaders

Abune Antonios

Head of the Orthodox Church, removed from his position in 2007 after criticising the Eritrean government for interference in church activities. Two priests accompanied by government security agents entered the Patriarch's residence and confiscated his personal pontifical insignia. He was replaced by Abune Dioskoros - a development orchestrated by the Eritrean government. Patriarch Antonios, who has never been charged with any offence, remains under house arrest and strict state surveillance.
Ogbamichael Teklehaimanot

Senior pastor of the Kale Hiwot Church. Arrested for participating in a Protestant wedding ceremony in Barentu on 9 January, 2005. Taken to Asmara Police Station No. 5, then subjected to 10 months of solitary confinement and hard labour at Sawa military camp. Released after six years, then re-arrested six months later, after a fleeing church member, who was being monitored, called him. Now back in prison in Barentu, where he has been for 11 years in total.

Kidane Weldou

Senior pastor of the Full Gospel Church and member of the executive committee of Gideons International in Eritrea. When his vehicle was found abandoned in 2005, his wife and four children assumed he had been arrested. Believed to be in Wongel Mermera prison.

Haile Naigzhi

Leader of Eritrea's Full Gospel Church, arrested at his home during the early hours of 23 May, 2004, and taken to Police Station #1 in Asmara.

Kiflu Gebremeskel
Founder and senior pastor of Southwest Full Gospel Church, and member of the executive committee to the Full Gospel Church of Eritrea. Before he became a full-time pastor, Dr. Gebremeskel was also a mathematics lecturer and until 1999 was department and faculty head at the University of Asmara. Has a Ph.D. in mathematics from Chicago University. Taken from his home in Asmara Gejeret in May 2004. Wife and four children have not been able to visit him.

Million Gebreselasie

Anaesthetist and pastor of Massawa Rhema Church. Arrested on 3 June, 2004, five days after another pastor, Tesfasion Hagos (who has since been released and granted asylum in another country), visited his church and home. Arrested at a police checkpoint just before entering Asmara, as he was returning Pastor Hagos' belongings to his home. Taken to the 2nd Police Station, where he was held for about two months, before being relocated to Wongel Mermera, where he remains. Unmarried.

Futsum Gebrenegus

Eritrea's only psychiatrist. Also served as an Orthodox priest. Arrested in Nov. 2004 for allegedly being involved in the renewal movement within the Orthodox Church.

Gebremedhin Gebregiorsis

Expert theologian and Orthodox priest also arrested in Nov. 2004 for allegedly being involved in the renewal movement within the Orthodox Church.

Tekleab Menghisteab

Doctor and Orthodox priest also arrested in Nov. 2004 for alleged involvement in the renewal movement within the Orthodox Church.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

As famine stalks millions of Ethiopians, and aid ships wait forever to unload at Ethiopia’s port of Djibouti, offers of free use of Eritrea’s Red Sea ports fall on deaf ears in Addis Ababa.

Millions upon millions have now exhausted their food stocks and major starvation has begun.

Desperate for food aid to be unloaded, aid agencies are begging the Djibouti port authorities to work faster, but the port of Djibouti is small and creaky and completely unable to keep up with the desperate need.

Enter Eritrea, home to not one but two ports on the Red Sea, with the southern and larger of the two, Assab, having been given a major upgrade by the Emirates this past year.

All backlog of food aid would be cleared up quickly if Ethiopia will only use the Eritrean ports, an offer repeatedly made in the past during droughts to no avail.

The question has to be asked, what kind of government sits back and allows tens if not hundreds of thousands of its own people to die of starvation because of some political dispute with its neighbor?

Only Ethiopia is allowed to get away with deliberately starving its own citizens, for there is supposed to be enough food aid in the pipeline to prevent the worst of the famine and only the shortage of port facilities in Djibouti is preventing its distribution.

Why isn't the USA and its lickspittles in the EU pressuring the Ethiopians, who are supposed to be under UN Article 7 Sanctions for their refusal to accept final and binding peace and border agreements, and entirely dependent on foreign loans to keep running ($11 billion in 2015)?

The politics of famine is what its all about as death from starvation stalks Ethiopia, again.

Thomas C. Mountain is an independent journalist living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached on Facebook at thomascmountain, on twitter @thomascmountain or thomascmountain at gmail dot com

(London, April 7, 2016): According to various credible sources, on Sunday 3 April 2016, Eritrean soldiers escorting 10-15 convoys of conscripts from a military training camp near to Akordet, to work as labourers in Assab, shot dead at least eleven people, including a woman and child, as well as severely wounding many others when some conscripts attempted to escape. The child was walking towards a shop, while the woman was going about her business.

Has this resulted in an apology from the Eritrean government for their brutality? Far from it. Instead, the Eritrean Defense Force is conducting house-to-house searches looking for those who tried to escape. Many civilians, as well as conscripts who attempted to escape, have been imprisoned. Those who are caught will be severely tortured, as is routine for the Eritrean government. The conscripts never wanted to be in the army, certainly not when they know the service is indefinite. Many have fathers and brothers and sisters that have been in the army for decades, and not through choice. Many will be used as forced labour either in the government owned companies, various ministries, or in the Bisha and other mining projects, being treated no better than slaves, getting paid nothing and receiving very little to eat,. They wanted to escape this horrible prospect, even at the risk of their lives. They should not be forced to fill the coffers of the greedy fat cats who sit back and watch their people suffer and die while telling the world that it is a patriotic duty.

In order to receive development money from the EU and other democratic countries, the Eritrean government for almost a year had promised the European diplomatic community in Eritrea and the international communities that it would shorten conscription by observing the 18 months that conscription is supposed to last on paper. This never happened; then on 25th February 2016, the Eritrean Information Minister informed Edmund Blair of Reuters that Eritrea would not implement the 18 months limit - typical of a government that has never implemented the ratified constitution of May 1997.

We condemn in the strongest terms this shooting of innocent people, along with the indefinite national service and servitude and the total lack of fundamental freedoms of any kind. The crimes against humanity that is being carried on with impunity in Eritrea must stop.

I have received details of the tragic events of last Sunday, when National Service conscripts were shot in cold blood in Asmara. They were attempting to escape from trucks taking them to the port of Assab.

The information is from inside Eritrea

Martin

On 03 April 2016 conscripts who jumped from vehicles were shot at in cold blood in front of many people. As a result, some died, some were wounded from the shooting and others were injured when they jumped from the vehicles.

A total of 29 conscripts were killed or injured.

Six were killed on the spot and eighteen were taken to hospital. Five of those in Halibet hospital have since died of their injuries. The remainder are under under heavy guard.

Reliable sources reveal that some of those still in hospital are in a critical condition. The numbers of fatalities may rise.

These are the names of some of the 18 wounded in hostpital:

1) Dawit Mickael

2) Abraham Fessehaye

3) Habtom Girmay

4) Mehanie Gebremedhin

5) Biniyam Zeray

6) Yonas Teame

7) Seare Welday

8) Yonatan Andemeskel

9) Basiliyos Zemhiret

10) Samuel Tekie

The other names are presently unknown.

We have all the names of the dead, however since not all the families have been informed the names of most are being withheld. However we will disclose 2 of the youth who died in hospital as their families have been told and have begun mourning.

1) Che’ay Haabtesilasie Gebremeskel the son of Mr Habtesilasie Gebremeskel who resides in Adi Guadad and works in a textile factory.

2) Yafiet Fessehaye Mengesha the son of Mr Fessehaye Mengesha who is from Mai Temenai Asmara and works in the transport industry.

These two deceased that we have listed were not part of the group who were rounded and taken to Barka for military service. When the incident took place they were just at the wrong time and wrong place and due to their heavy wounds, they died in hospital.

Friday, April 8, 2016

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Ethiopia’s stellar economic growth story over the last decade is slowly being eroded by one of the worst drought the East African nation has experience since Band Aid.

According to aid agencies more than 10 million Ethiopians are facing starvation and more than $1.4 billion is needed to deal with the crisis. Only half of that has been secured so far.

But as famine ravaged the horn of Africa nation, aid ship are waiting forever to unload food aid at the Djibouti port, the only that serves the landlocked nation of about 96 million people.

Ethiopia have however rejected an offer from Eritrea to use its Red Sea port to bring in this food to starving villagers in the northern part of the country.

The two east African countries have a long-standing enmity after the former borthers-in-arms fell out in 1998 over a border dispute that led to a two year war which claimed around 100,000 casualties, cost billions of dollars, and continues to serve as the main source of regional instability in the Horn of Africa, Aljazeera reported.

But in the wake of the recent worst drought in Ethiopia that has been caused by adverse El Niño weather, Eritrea offered one of its two large ports bring in food aid into Ethiopia and clear a backlog of food aid at the small Djibouti port.

Ethiopia rejected this offer.

Thomas Mountain, an independent journalist living and reporting from Eritrea, said in an opinion piece published by Countercurrents.org that this decision have kept food aid from tens (if not hundreds) of starving Ethiopians.

” The question has to be asked, what kind of government sits back and allows tens if not hundreds of thousands of its own people to die of starvation because of some political dispute with its neighbor?” Mountain said.

” All backlog of food aid would be cleared up quickly if Ethiopia will only use the Eritrean ports, an offer repeatedly made in the past during droughts to no avail.”

This is the worst drought Ethiopians have had to face in three decades and it has killed hundreds of thousands of livestock and left 10 million people vulnerable to malnutrition, disease, and other harm.

In the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, including that land that is now Eritrea, hundreds of thousands of people died.

Although the coffee producing nation has made huge strides in economic growth over the last decade, growing by over 8 percent year after year, the horn of Africa needs any humanitarian aid it can get to help its citizens, mostly in the northern part, survive the drought.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kjetil Tronvoll is a professor of peace and conflict studies at Bjorknes College, and Senior Partner at the International Law and Policy Institute. He has written Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Ethiopian-Eritrean War and The Lasting Struggle for Freedom in Eritrea.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The fighting was brought to an end with the signing of the Algiers Peace Agreement and establishment of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission (EEBC) in 2000. However, Ethiopia's refusal to implement the rulings of the EEBC prior to negotiations and Eritrea's insistence on an unconditional and immediate demarcation of the border have locked the two governments in an intractable stalemate.

Despite the official cessation of hostilities, Ethiopia and Eritrea continued their war through proxies by supporting various rebel-movements throughout the Horn of Africa. In this way, they have been fuelling conflict and instability in each other's countries as well as the wider region.

13 years after the Algiers Peace Agreement, domestic conditions in both states and the regional geopolitical equation have undergone substantial changes.

Ethiopia lost its long-time strongman,

The relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia is arguably the most important and volatile in East Africa. The fall-out between the former brothers-in-arms initiated a two-year-long border war in 1998, which claimed around 100,000 causalities, cost billions of dollars, and continues to serve as the main source of regional instability in the Horn of Africa.

The fighting was brought to an end with the signing of the Algiers Peace Agreement and establishment of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission (EEBC) in 2000. However, Ethiopia's refusal to implement the rulings of the EEBC prior to negotiations and Eritrea's insistence on an unconditional and immediate demarcation of the border, have locked the two governments in an intractable stalemate.

Despite the official cessation of hostilities in 2000, Ethiopia and Eritreacontinued their war through proxies by supporting various rebel movements throughout the Horn of Africa. In this way, they have been fuelling conflict and instability in each other's countries as well as the wider region.

Thirteen years after the Algiers Peace Agreement, domestic conditions in both states and the regional geopolitical equation have undergone substantial changes.

Ethiopia lost its long-time strongman, Meles Zenawi, in 2012. There are strong indications that Eritrea is also very likely to see the departure of its own leader, President Isaias Afwerki, in the near future. Moreover, Ethiopia has been experiencing robust economic growth and political stability over the last decade, a development that has also coincided with a significant weakening of its regional adversaries.

The political standoff between Ethiopia and Eritrea has very much been tied to the role, interests and historical experiences of particular individuals and circles that hail from one generation - the Marxist-Leninist student movements turned guerrilla fighters in the 1960s and 1970s. With the political and generational changes that are taking place in both countries, a normalisation of relations between these two states might take place in the not so distant future.

A new chapter

In Addis Ababa, the discourse on Eritrea has evolved from initially being considered a significant military threat next door to that of concerns over state collapse, civil war and its security implications.

Ethiopia's ruling EPRDF (Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front) government faced, as recently as 2007, the tactical alliance of Eritrea, Ethiopian armed rebels and factions in Somalia (such as the Islamic Courts Union - ICU). To many observers the security equation seemed at that time to be in favour of this alliance.

In a significant turn of developments, Eritrea underwent a process of rapid economic, political and humanitarian decline - a clear indicator of which, is its emergence as one of the top refugee producing countries in the world. In Somalia, the ICU has been eliminated, and its successor al-Shabab has also been dealt a blow that it is unlikely to recover from.

Ethiopian authorities are adamant about the normalisation of relations and economic integration of the two nations.

Armed Ethiopian insurgent groups, such as the Oromo Liberation Front and Ogaden National Liberation Front, have largely declined, due to, among other things, their inability to remain cohesive. In addition to this, the Ethiopian economy - and consequently its military power - has undergone sustained growth over the last decade.

Asmara's support for Somali-based rebel groups made it an international pariah and target of a regime under UN sanctions. Although Eritrea is not the only actor to engage in such actions (Ethiopia harbours a dozen Eritrean rebel groups), the consequences have been particularly severe for Eritrea. This is mainly due to its choice of allies in Somalia, which happened to be at loggerheads with much of the regional and international community. President Isaias Afwerki's inability to play the diplomatic game and persuade the international community to support, or at least understand his viewpoint, created conducive conditions for the late PM Zenawi - who succeeded where Afwerki failed.

The main concern for policy-makers in Addis Ababa is no longer Asmara's military capacity, but rather the possibility of Eritrea plunging into chaos. This fear is apparently so daunting to Ethiopia that it may prefer a reformed Eritrean government led by People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), rather than the insecurities of a violent power transition next door.

On two occasions this year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has signalled his government's interest in dialogue and his willingness to go to Asmara for peace talks, at anytime and without any pre-conditions.

Delicate issue of Bademe

At the heart of the stalemate are symbolic politics and domestic constraints on both sides - of which the contested border town of Bademe is an embodiment.

It is very possible that the EPRDF will hand over the symbolic town of Bademe to Eritrea - which was awarded to the latter by the EEBC - but it can only get away with such a move domestically by selling it as a necessary sacrifice for a comprehensive and durable peace. The fact that the individuals leading the current Ethiopian government did not take part in the decision-making processes of the border war and subsequent peace agreement, means that they are less constrained by the commitments of their predecessors.

For President Afwerki, on the other hand, the stakes are much higher. In fact, resolving the stalemate is likely to create more challenges than benefits to his personal power base. The suspension of the parliament and the constitution, the universal and indefinite military conscription policy, and in general, the system of one-man rule have all been justified by the need to counter the "Ethiopian threat". A settlement of the border issue would eliminate the rationale for maintainingthis system and would undoubtedly lead to new domestic demands for addressing the nation's many political and humanitarian problems.

'Brothers at war'

Sentimental notions of brotherhood, betrayal, and ethnic-stereotypes have shaped the manner in which Ethiopia's EPRDF and Eritrea's PFDJ ruling parties have been relating to each other since the days of the guerrilla struggle.

It is now time to think about what the relationship between these two states will look like without the two omnipresent strongmen that have heavily shaped their histories.

The cultural and political intimacy and sense of fraternity that developed during their time as rebel movements led both parties to delay institutionalising the relationship between their newly established regimes in 1993 - and thus made possible the border war. These sentimental aspects also played an important role in making the conflict prolonged and eventually intractable.

This sense of "intimacy" has also had some positive implications. One such effect is the preferential treatment given to Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia - who now number around 100,000 people. Eritrean refugees - provided that they satisfy certain criteria - are given residency and work permits and the opportunity to study in Ethiopian universities (as opposed to refugees from other neighbouring countries). Around 1,200university scholarships have so far been offered to Eritrean refugees.

However, the passing of time has brought with it substantial changes, and the more than a decade-long political and physical barriers led to an increasing cultural disconnectedness even among the people that live along the border. In Addis Ababa and other urban centres, it is even more challenging to arouse interest for Eritrean affairs among the average Ethiopian.

Post-Zenawi and post-Afwerki

A refugee crisis, high-level defections, and a recent mutiny in the army, are some of many indications that Afwerki's regime is facing an existential threat that may lead to its demise in the near future.

Afwerki is now on "survival mode" and may engage in new and desperate gestures to prolong his time in power, such as opening up to the international community for dialogue and humanitarian aid. However, if his past behaviour is anything to go by, such moves are only likely to be tactical survival manoeuvres that will not reverse the current political trajectory.

It is now time to think about what the relationship between these two states will look like without the two omnipresent strongmen that have heavily shaped their histories.

In Ethiopia, this process of change has already begun, and the time when both countries will be led by a generation without the historical and political baggage inherited from the liberation war, the border war and subsequent peace settlement might not be far ahead in time. Free from these constraints, the post-Afwerki and post-Zenawi Eritrea-Ethiopia relations will most likely not only be normalised, but also much more institutionalised.

Kjetil Tronvoll is a professor of peace and conflict studies at Bjorknes College, and Senior Partner at the International Law and Policy Institute. He has written Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Ethiopian-Eritrean War and The Lasting Struggle for Freedom in Eritrea:Human Rights and Political Development, 1991-2009.

Goitom Gebreluel is an advisor at the International Law and Policy Institute. He has previously worked for the Norwegian government (Norad) and taught foreign policy studies at Mekelle University, Ethiopia.

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About Me

Prof. Muse Tegegne has lectured sociology Change & Liberation in Europe, Africa and Americas. He has obtained Doctorat es Science from the University of Geneva. A PhD in Developmental Studies & ND in Natural Therapies. He wrote on the problematic of the Horn of Africa extensively. He Speaks Amharic, Tigergna, Hebrew, English, French. He has a good comprehension of Arabic, Spanish and Italian.